Arrangement in center poles for record changing phonographs



July 24, 1962 PERGE 3,046,021

ARRANGEMENT IN CENTER POLES FOR RECORD CHANGING PHONOGRAPHS Filed Sept. 8, 1958 "IIIIIIIIIIIIIA Va INVENTOR ANDREAS PERGE AGEN Unite States Patent 3,tl-%,tl2l ARRANGEMENT HQ CENTER PQLES FOR RECORD CHAWGENG PHGNQGRAEHS Andreas lPerge, Eromma, Sweden, assignor to North American Philips @ompany, Inc, New Yorlr, N.Y., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 7L ,6il3 Claims priority, application Sweden fist. 26, E57 8 Claims, (*Cl. 274-49) The present invention has regard to an arrangement in center poles (spindles) for record changing phonographs, comprising a number of supporting members retractible into the center pole for supporting in their operative position a record stack, as well as one or more radially ou wards actuable holding members for holding, in their operative position, the second lower-most record and pos sibly further overlying records while the bearing members are retracted into the pole for releasing the lowermost record onto the turntable, the supporting member and the holding member or members respectively being arranged to be given mutually coordinated movements by means of an operating device provided within the pole and displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the latter by the gramophone driving mechanism, which operating device is arranged to cause at an upward movement on one hand the actuation of the holding member or members for engaging the second record and possibly further overlying records, and on the other hand the retraction of the supporting members into the pole.

More particularly an object of the invention is to pro vide in such a pole a device, whereby an automatic switchoff of the phonograph work is obtained when, during a changing movement of the record, there is no record on the supporting members of the pole.

It has already been suggested to achieve the function in center poles of the mind here in question by means of an outwards spring pre-tensioned feeling member, which is connected with the operating device of the center pole and normally is kept retracted within the pole by a record resting on the supporting members. The feeling members is then in such a position, that the operating device can carry out a complete displacement movement without being impeded by the feeling member. In the absence of records on the supporting members, however, the feeling member will due to its spring tension be carried further out of the pole with its end, and it will then on the displacement movement of the operating device engage a stop fixedly arranged in relation to the pole. Hereby the movement of the operating device is stopped, and in the movement transmission arrangement between the record and the operating device a resilient intermediate member or the like is provided, which causes the work to be switched off.

The present invention provides such a blocking of the movements of the operating device when there is no record on the supporting members, an entirely new principle, however, being utilized for this blocking. The invention renders it possible to utilize in a preferred embodiment the supporting member or some of them respectively for a feeling function, whereby a separate feeling member may be dispensed with, as the supporting member or members respectively constitute themselves such feeling mem bers. This is important for achieving a simple and safe construction. In center poles for records having the conventional smaller center hole size, there are also certain difficulties to arrange a separate feeling member considering the small available space. The arrangement according to the invention is foremost characterized by the fact, that the holding member or members is (are) arranged to impede or limit in operative position upward movement of a record (the lowermost record) resting on the supporting members, at least one feeling member displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the pole being arranged to be kept in a position projecting from the pole beneath the record stack under the action of a directional force (spring force) and to be actuated by the operating device on its upward movement by engagement against a curve path on the feeling member oblique to the longitudinal axis of the pole in such a way, that the feeling member at the presence of a record beneath the holding member (or members) will be subject to a force component directed towards the central axis of the pole due to the reaction force created by said record on the abutment of the feeling member, said force component causing the feeling member to be retracted into the pole, which allows the operating device to carry out its upward movement as determined by the record for changing over a record on the turntable, while in case there is no record above the feeling member, the latter will accompany the operating device past the plane where otherwise the record has its underside, and above this plane will engage a stop substantially fixed in relation to the pole, said stop preventing the movement of the feeling member upwards as well as radially inwards, whereby the operating device is prevented from completing its upward movement normally required for changing down a record.

The invention will be more closely explained in connection with the annexed drawing, which shows an embodiment of the invention chosen as an example. In the drawing reference numeral 1 designates the tubular shell of the center pole, which is shown in longitudinal section with the exception of its lower portion. The center pole has in a usual way a lower part of smaller cross section intended to be inserted in a central stationary sleeve in the center of the turntable, and at its lower edge it is provided with a peripheral groove 2, by which it is retained in the center sleeve of the turntable. The operating device of the pole is constituted by a rod 3 axially displaceable in the pole as well as a tubular portion 4, in the following termed actuating sleeve, which is also displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the pole. Between the rod 3 and the actuating sleeve 4 there is a movement transmission device, which will be more closely described hereinafter. At its lower end the rod 3 is pro vided with a peripheral groove 5, by means of which the rod is connected with the movement transmission members of the record apparatus for operating the rod during changing movements.

In the actuating sleeve 4 there is an additional sleeve 6 acting as a holder for the supporting members 7' and 7". Suitably three such supporting members are provided (although only two are visible in the drawing) having a mutual angular distance of 120. The pole will thereby be self-balancing and does not required any stabilizing member in order that the record stack, indicated by the records 8, 8", 8" in the drawing, shall be kept in a horizontal position. Each supporting member 7', 7" consists of a resilient arm portion 9 provided with a supporting projection ill. The resilient arms 9' of the supporting members are fixed to the holder 6 and are so pre-tensioned, that the supporting projections 10 strive to take the positions shown in the drawing, i.e. projecting through vertical slots 11 and 11" respectively provided in the wall of the pole. The supporting projections 10 have at 12 outer boundary surfaces converging against the holder,

' which boundary surfaces are intended to co-act with the upper edge 13 of the operating sleeve 4 (partially cut in the drawing) and then to serve as curve surfaces in a manner which will be described hereinafter. The sleeveshaped holder 6 of the supporting members is slidably guided in the operating sleeve 4, which in turn is slidably guided in the pole 1. At 14 the tubular cavity of the pole has its cross section reduced, so that a shelf is formed, on which the holder 6 of the supporting members is supported. In this way it is achieved that the operating device is discharged and that this one or the transmission members of the record apparatus need not be dimensioned so as to be able to resist the weight of a heavy record pile. The same shelf also serves as a stop for the operating sleeve 4 and determines the lowermost end position of this sleeve.

The rod 3 of the operating device has a reduced cross section in the pole and continues through the holder 6 of the supporting members and is at its upper end provided with a curve member slidably connected in the pole. The member 15 serves to actuate and control a number of holding members, suitably three in number, designated 16', 16", 16". The supporting members consist each of a resilient arm 17 provided at its free end with a pointed projection 18 directed substantially in the radial direction from the central axis of the pole and extending slightly above a corresponding supporting member. The arms of the holding members are fixed to a common holder 19, which is slidably guided in the upper portion of the pole. It is movable between two end positions determined by a pin 20, which is fixed to the pole and passes through a vertically oblong, transverse aperture or slot 21 in the holder 19. A pressure spring 23 acts between an end plug 22 in the pole and the top side of the holder, whereby the holder strives to take its fixed lowermost end position, although it has a possibility of moving upwardly under compression of spring 23 when actuated by an axial upward force. In this lowermost end position of the holder 19 of the holding members, the projections 18 will be on such a level relatively to the supporting surfaces of the supporting members 7', 7" for a record resting thereon, that the points of the projections 18 will lie beneath the plane of the topside of the record. This ought obviously to be good for records having the least thickness to be handled by the changer. As will appear from the following description, it is from an operational point of View simplest and most suitable that the points of the projections 18 on the other hand extend above the plane of the underside of the record.

The curve member 15 is shaped substantially as a piston having cut-out portions for the lower ends of the holding members, which cut-out portions at the bottom of the piston are limited by oblique curve surfaces 24 for ooacting with the likewise oblique undersides of the projections 18. The holding members 16, 16", 16' have their arms pre-tensioned in such a way, that they maintain by their own spring tension the projections 18 retracted in the pole, when no actuation from the operating device exists. It is this position that is shown on the drawing.

Between the rod 3 and the operating sleeve 4 acts an interconnecting device consisting of a pin 25 projecting radially from the rod 3 and passing through an oblong hole in the wall of the operating sleeve 4. The upper edge of this hole is indicated at 26. The pin 25 thus acts as a carrier finger for the operating sleeve 4, which carrier finger, however, will be operative only after the rod 3 having moved upwards a distance as determined by the position of the edge 26. The pin 25 also passes through an oblong hole or slot in the holder 6 of the supporting members, but the upper edge 27 of the same is on such a high level, that the holder 6 will not be engaged by the rod 3 on its upward movement.

The device operates substantially as follows.

It is presumed that the different parts of the pole take the positions shown on the drawing during the playing of a record and that records are present on the supporting members 7, 7". When the playing of the record on the turntable is finished, the changing mechanism of the record apparatus operates in a manner known per scso as to 4 displace the rod 3 upwards. The curve surfaces 24 on the curve member 15 will then enter between the holding members 16, 16", 16", and the projections 18, which are movable out through the slots 11, will be pressed to abut against the wall of the center hole of the lowermost record due to the resistance against upward movement caused by the pressure spring 23. Since the pro jections 18 then cannot flex outwardly sufficiently to permit the bottom portion of the curve member '15 to entirely enter between them, the holding members will together with the holder 19 be carried upwards against the action spring 23. The contact pressure between the projections 18 and the wall of the center hole of the record will then be finally determined by the spring force of the pressure spring 23, and the contact pressure may thus be limited to reasonable values. As soon as the interspace between the lowermost and the second lowermost records of the record pile is reached by the projections 18, these enter out between the records, so that they support the records lying above at the same time as they are pressed against the topside of the lowermost record and thereby prevent an upward movement of this last mentioned record or in every case limit such a movement to maximally a distance corresponding to the play inthe aperture 21 on force actuation from beneath on the record. It will be appreciated that the play in the longitudinal direction in the aperture 21 should be at least so great as to enable the abovedescribed finding movement of the holding members to take place also for the event a substantially thicker record lies on the supporting members 7', 7". Only after the finding movement with certainty having been concluded and the projections 18 taken fully projecting positions, the carrier pin 25 engages the edge of the hole 26 in the operating sleeve 4. On the continued upward movement of the rod 3 the bottom portion of curve member 15 slides between the arms 17 of the holding members, which in this way are kept in their projecting positions. The operating sleeve 4 is now brought to abut with its edge 13 against the curve surfaces 12 on the supporting members 7', 7", and as these are blocked against upward movement due to the fact that the lowermost record 8' is locked in this direction, the supporting members are forced into the pole by the operating sleeve 4, so that the lowermost record 8 falls down on the turntable while the remaining records of the record pile are retained by the holding members 16, 16", 16". The record apparatus now pulls down the rod 3 together with the operating sleeve 4, whereby first the supporting members 7', 7" are carried out from the pole by their spring pre-tension and then the curve member 15 allows the holding members 16, 16", 16" to be retracted into the pole due to their spring pre-tension and let down the records 8" and 8" on the supporting members. The device is thus' returned to its starting position.

The same operation takes place on the changing of all the records of the record stack.

When after the playing of the last record of the record stack the changing movement is started, accordingly without any record lying on the supporting members 7', 7", instead the following operation is performed.

When the rod 3 is carried upwards, there is no obstacle for the projections 18 of the holding members 16', 16", 16" to be carried out from the pole immediately and Without any appreciable axial movement. Nor is there any reaction force acting on the uppersides of the supporting members 7', 7", when the operating sleeve 4 afterwards is carried upwards, and the result will be that the supporting members together with their holder 6 accompany the operating sleeve 4 upwards due to its abutment against the supporting members at the edge 13, without being retracted into the pole. The carrying members 7', 7" are after a relatively short axial path of movement brought to engage the projections 18 of the holding members 16', 16", 16", projecting out from the spa es-1 J pole. Accordingly these act as stops for the axial movement of the supporting members and also prevent radial movement inwards of the stpporting members. For this purpose the projections ill of the supporting members are suitably provided with a recess 28 at their inner, upper corner securing required engagement with the projections of the holding members.

It is of course also possible to dispose the projections 18 of the holding members angularly displaced in relation to the projections ltl of the supporting members and to bring instead the supporting members to engage the upper edges of the slots 11, which thus will act as stops.

In this way the rod 3 can move only a comparably short distance upwards in the case there is no record on the supporting members 7', 7", and this blocking of the operating device is utilized in a manner known per se for causing the records to be switched off.

In the described embodiment the supporting members have thus in addition to the normal function to support the record stack and release its lowermost record on the turntable on record change also the function of feeling members, which feel whether there is any record above them and otherwise cause the operating device to be blocked.

Naturally it is also possible within the scope of the invention to use only one (or two) supporting member(s) as a feeling member. The other supporting members may then be fixedly connected to the pole, while the supporting member acting as a feeler member is displaceable in the longitudinal direction and operated by means of an operating member in substantially the same way as has been described above. Such embodiments with double utilization of the supporting members or at least one supporting member are, as already mentioned, advantageous with regard to simplicity in construction and small space requirements.

However, it is also possible to modify the invention within its scope in such a way, that the supporting members are merely used for supporting the stack of records,

while a separate feeling member is provided, having in the normal position shown in the drawing its upperside extending beneath the supporting plane of the supporting members, but being actuated in a similar way as the supporting members in the described embodiment so as to be retracted into the pole on the occurrence of a record on the supporting members by the reaction force caused by this record, while the feeling member otherwise will accompany the operating device and be caused to engage a stop impeding the completion of the upward movement of the operating device.

Furthermore, it is of course also possible to use the described changer pole in the reversed manner, i.e. so that the rod is in its upper position during the playing of a record, the record stack thus then being supported by the holding members 16', 16", 16", while the supporting members '7, 7 are in retracted position in the pole. A changing movement will then consist of a lowering of the rod 3 and after that again an elevation of the same. The blocking of the operating device would in such a case take place at the beginning of the concluding moment of the changing movement.

it is essential for the inventive idea that a record lying on the supporting members is impeded against upward movement by one or more holding members during the record changing movement, and that then one shall not merely be dependent of the resistance against an upward movement due to the weight of the records-when only one or a few records remain, the weight is too small to ensure satisfactory safety in operation. Although the construction of the holding members described above is very advantageous, also other principles for achieving the holding function may be applied. For instance it is possible to use instead in a manner known per so an expanding portion, i.e. of elastic material, as a single holding member.

What is claimed is:

l. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable comprising a center hollow shaft, a control rod in said hollow shaft, means for moving said control rod axially in said shaft, a sleeve in said hollow shaft, at least two supporting members in said sleeve being movale laterally as Well as axially, said supporting members when projected laterally being adapted to support a stack of records, at least one holding member movably supported within said hollow shaft, means operative to move said holding member radially to support the other records of the stack while the record to be played is released, said supporting members at that time being moved radially inwardly to enable the record to be played to be lowered on the turntable, means in the hollow shaft of said record changing apparatus which upon upward movement thereof actuates both said holding member and said supporting members, spring means urging said holding member downwardly, and a stop on said holding member for preventing the upward and radially inward movement of at least one of said supporting members when there is no record positioned above said supporting member in said record changing apparatus whereby said means in the hollow shaft is prevented from completing its upward movement normally required for changing a record.

2. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable comprising a center hollow shaft, a control rod in said hollow shaft, means for moving said control rod axially in said shaft, a sleeve in said hollow shaft, at least two supporting members being spring pre-tensioned arms in said sleeve being movable laterally as well as axially, said supporting members when projected laterally being adapted to support a stack of records, at least one holding member movably supported within said hollow shaft, means operative to move said holding member radially to support the other records of the stack while the record to be played is released, said sleeve comprising an edge portion which engages the outer oblique boundary surfaces of said supporting members, said supporting members at that time being moved radially inwardly to enable the record to be played to be lowered on the turntable, both said means operative to move said holding member radially and said sleeve engaging the outer bound ary of said supporting members and being actuated by said control rod upon upward movement thereof, spring means urging said holding member downwardly, and a stop on said holding member for preventing the upward and radially inward movement of at least one of said supporting members when there is no record positioned above said supporting member in said record changing apparatus whereby said control rod in the hollow shaft is prevented from completing its upward movement normally required for changing a record.

3. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable as claimed in claim 2 wherein said spring pre-tensioned arms have projections at their free ends which constitute the supports for the record stack, said control rod having an element thereon at one end thereof which contacts said holding member and in the operative condition of said apparatus moves the holding member upwardly against said spring means.

4. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable comprising a center hollow shaft, a control rod in said hollow shaft, said control rod having an element thereon which is curvilinear on at least one surface thereof, means for moving said control rod axially in said shaft, a sleeve in said hollow shaft, at least two supporting members in said sleeve being movable laterally as well as axially, said supporting members when projected laterally being adapted to support a stack of records, at least one holding member movably supported within said hollow shaft, means operative to move said holding member radially to support the other records of the stack while the record to be played is released, said supporting members at that time being moved radially inwardly to enable the record to be played to be lowered on the turntable, said element being operative to displace the free end of said holding member radially whereby the same is positioned over the top surface of the record to be played, spring means urging said holding member downwardly, and a stop constituted by the free end of said holding member for preventing the upward and radially inward movement of at least one of said supporting members when there is no record positioned above said supporting member in said record changing apparatus whereby said control rod in the hollow shaft is prevented from completing its upward movement normally required for changing a record.

5. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for interconnecting said control rod to said sleeve comprising a slot in said sleeve, and a stud projecting traversely from said control rod into said slot and forming a lost motion connection between said control rod and said sleeve.

6. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a tubular central pole wherein said control rod is located co-axially within said sleeve, and said sleeve is located concentrical- 1y around said tubular central pole, an elongated slot in said tubular central pole aligned with the slot in said sleeve, said stud being in both said sleeve and said tubular central pole but due to the difference in length of the slots the central pole is not moved by the control rod on its upward movement.

7. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable as claimed in claim 1 wherein said holding member is provided with a projection extending substantially in a radial direction from said control rod and said supporting members engage said projection of the holding member in the absence of a phonograph record on said supporting members, and said projection of the holding member acts as a stop for the upward movement of the supporting members.

8. A record changing apparatus for a phonograph turntable as claimed in claim 6 wherein the limit of lateral movement of said holding member is determined by the upper edges of one of said slots which act as a stop for the control rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,845,271 Scheller July 29, 1958 

